A characteristic of older folksongs, in most cases, is that we don't know their composers or authors. Older folksongs were written often with no commercial purpose in mind. They were passed down by word of mouth, from generation to generation.
Tom Glazer

A pin has as much head as some authors and a good deal more point.
George Dennison Prentice

A study in the Washington Post says that women have better verbal skills than men. I just want to say to the authors of that study: 'Duh.'
Conan O'Brien

Age appears to be best in four things; old wood best to burn, old wine to drink, old friends to trust, and old authors to read.
Francis Bacon

All great authors are seers.
George Henry Lewes

All those authors there, most of whom of course I've never met. That's the poetry side, that's the prose side, that's the fishing and miscellaneous behind me. You get an affection for books that you've enjoyed.
Norman MacCaig

Also, there are authors and publicists using the Internet to manipulate opinion, both positively for a work and negatively against the competition. I don't do this and can't stomach it, honestly.
R. A. Salvatore

Among all kinds of Writing, there is none in which Authors are more apt to miscarry than in Works of Humour, as there is none in which they are more ambitious to excel.
Joseph Addison

Authors are sometimes like tomcats: They distrust all the other toms but they are kind to kittens.
Malcolm Cowley

Authors change publishers because it's like being married for a long time and suddenly you want to go out and have a wild affair! No, not seriously, sometimes the deal is more interesting with a new publisher, and other times they have more enthusiasm for your books.
Jackie Collins

Authors from whom others steal should not complain, but rejoice. Where there is no game there are no poachers.
Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach

Authors like cats because they are such quiet, lovable, wise creatures, and cats like authors for the same reasons.
Robertson Davies

Authors want their names down in history; I want to keep the smoke coming out of the chimney.
Mickey Spillane

Books choose their authors; the act of creation is not entirely a rational and conscious one.
Salman Rushdie

Booksellers are the most valuable destination for the lonely, given the numbers of books that were written because authors couldn't find anyone to talk to.
Alain de Botton

By reading a lot of novels in a variety of genres, and asking questions, it's possible to learn how things are done - the mechanics of writing, so to speak - and which genres and authors excel in various areas.
Nicholas Sparks

Composers, like authors, have a lot in common. Our main goal is to connect with the listener emotionally.
Ken Hill

Dickens is one of those authors who are well worth stealing.
George Orwell

Dr. Johnson has said that the chief glory of a country arises from its authors. But then that is only as they are oracles of wisdom; unless they teach virtue, they are more worthy of a halter than of the laurel.
Jane Porter

Even the contemporary horror authors who have seriously influenced me are a disparate bunch.
George Stephen